Have you ever made baked donuts from cake mix? It’s probably the easiest, least stressful, and least messy way to cook up these perennial favorites. No fryer required, and certainly nothing more special than a donut pan. In fact, it’s very likely you already have all the ingredients needed in your pantry already!
Hot, steamy, chewy baked donuts…oh, just typing it out makes our mouths water! Who doesn’t like a good baked donut? Seriously! They’re great for all ages and all occasions, but kind-of involved to cook sometimes. Cleaning up fryer oil, for instance, can be such a hassle if you make them the old-fashioned way.
That’s why we’re introducing these cake mix baked donuts—a simpler way to prepare these treats for your upcoming get-together (or just for fun). Versatile, customizable, and oh-so-delicious, we know you’ll love this recipe as much as we do!
Cake Mix Donuts: Ingredients & Utensils
If you know how to make a cake from cake mix, you basically know what you’ll need for these donuts.
Ingredients:
- Cake mix: Any kind, depending on what flavor donuts you’d like. Get your favorite!
- Eggs, vegetable oil etc: This part will vary based on what cake mix you use, but basically…go ahead and read the instructions and see what you’ll need.
- Milk and powdered sugar: To make your donut glaze.
- Sprinkles – our fave!
Utensils/Tools:
- Donut pan, whisk, and non-stick cooking spray: Important! This is how you’ll get the donut shape, else you’ll just be, well, making a cake. Which is not always a bad thing, but not what we’re going for here!
- Bowls: For mixing the batter and glaze.
- Plastic decorator bag: this is optional, but it makes filling the donut mold SUPER easy!
How to make Baked Donuts with a Cake Mix
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined
- Transfer batter into a plastic decorator bag, snip off the end and fill the donut mold 1/2 full
- Then into the oven they go and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool, then remove the donuts from the mold and repeat with any batter that is left.
Now comes the fun part – let’s decorate.
How to Decorate Baked Donuts
- Mix the glaze and separate it into bowls, then color it with any colors you like. For Christmas we used red, green and white.
- Frost the donuts with the glaze and immediately add the sprinkles.
- Let them set for about 5 minutes for the glaze to firm up a bit, then serve immediately.
Cake Mix Donuts: Variations
Let us provide you some fabulous inspiration for customizing your baked donuts! If you want to get creative with your donuts, try any of the following tips…
Add extracts: Try vanilla, lemon, mint, etc. Whatever tickles your fancy! Since plain cake mix gives you a sort-of neutral (though tasty) flavor to work with, you might want to add a dash of something else to the batter or glaze.
Get creative with the cake mix: Use flavored cake mix if you’re going for a specific kind of donut. Maybe chocolate? Strawberry? Or something a little more exotic, like banana or apple spice? When it comes to this recipe, if it’s a type of cake, it’s a type of donut, too.
Add spices or fruit: With cinnamon and brown sugar, for example, you can make delicious cinnamon sugar donuts. Nutmeg is also a wonderful spice for baked donuts! Additionally, try throwing bits of fruit into the batter, like diced strawberries.
Replace the glaze: Glaze is profoundly good…but may not be everyone’s cup of tea, we know. You can frost these donuts with anything from the store-bought stuff to peanut butter instead.
Sprinkles: You know we love our sprinkles! Here’s where you can have fun. Think birthday cake sprinkles for someone’s special day, Christmas crispies at the most wonderful time of the year, our Love Boat mix in February, or even tiny donut sprinkles if you want to be cheeky.
Other toppers: Decorate your donuts with chopped nuts or candy, depending on the occasion (or your mood). The possibilities are endless!
Breakfast with Santa
Are you ready to create a really fun experience for you and your family? This Breakfast with Santa is easy and will put a smile on their faces!
We included the Cake Mix Baked Donuts, Hot Chocolate Bombs decorated for Christmas and mini waffles made in a cute waffle maker made especially for the Christmas season.
Baked Donuts: Use the recipe below then add colored glaze to each donut and then decorate with our Christmas sprinkles and edible Christmas toppers.
Hot Chocolate Bombs: Head on over to see exactly how we decorated these, or let the kids decorate their own.
Christmas Waffles: We used our Homemade Pancakes Recipe for these mini waffles, then added white and green glaze and decorated with our Christmas sprinkles. It’s easiest to add the glaze with a plastic squeeze bottle, but you can also have the glaze or frosting ready and let the kids decorate their own. Not sure about all the sugar? Serve them with butter and syrup.
Cake Mix Donuts: FAQs
Answers to common questions about this recipe!
Should my donut batter have the same consistency as cake batter?
A little thicker. That’s how you know you’re doing it right!
When should I add the glaze?
When the donuts are hot and ready from the oven! You won’t ruin the glaze or anything if you wait, though.
My glaze is kind of thick. Can I save it?
Add more milk to it to thin it out.
How should I store these donuts?
In an airtight container. You can keep them in the fridge, though keep in mind they may not taste as fresh after a few days.
Ready to try our baked donuts?
When you do, please leave us a comment down below. We always like reading about your experiences with our recipes.Let us know what you think!
More tasty cake mix recipes to try…
No one knows better than we do that cake mix is versatile and super useful! For more cake mix recipes, check out other posts on our blog, like: